Dresden (dpa/sn) – Saxon Social Affairs Minister Petra Köpping (SPD) sees East Germans as particularly vulnerable to crises given the significant income differences in East and West. In the east, people would still earn several hundred euros less per month than in west Germany, the minister said on Friday in the state parliament. That’s why every crisis hits people here faster and harder. “People in East Germany have fewer reserves, people in East Germany inherit less.” That is why they are immediately and directly affected when the cost of living increases. “That’s why it’s important that the welfare state is there for these people.”
The Saxon state parliament debated wealth and poverty on Friday at the request of the left. “Low incomes remain the main problem in the fight against poverty, which can affect everyone,” said Left Party leader Susanne Schaper, who is responsible for social policy in the state parliament. In some districts, almost half of the employees work for low wages. “A welfare state that relies on food banks doesn’t deserve its name,” explained Schaper’s parliamentary colleague Luise Neuhaus-Wartenberg: “Poverty is not fate, but an emergency of immense importance in our rich country.”
